Do you think this outfit is too revealing for travel? Thomas Cook called it ‘inappropriate’

The woman said she was shaking and felt bullied after the incident (Photo: Emily O’Connor)

Lloyd Bent

Published:3:51 pmMarch 14, 2019

Travelling can be exhausting, and one of the best ways to make it more tolerable is to be as comfortable as possible. What you wear while you travel can make a major difference to your journey.

But what do you do when you are told that the clothes you have chosen to wear on your journey are inappropriate, and are faced with being kicked off your flight unless you change?

This is what happened to Emily O’Connor, from Solihull in the West Midlands, on her Thomas Cook flight to Tenerife.

O’Connor, 21, was going on holiday with her cousins when she was stopped from getting onto her plane by a flight attendant who asked her to change her clothing.

Clothing deemed too ‘offensive’ to be allowed on plane

According to a post on Twitter, O’Connor’s outfit of a black crop top and high-waisted loose trousers was deemed “inappropriate” and she was told to “cover up” as she was “causing offence”.

O’Connor had already been through security in the clothes and not been stopped. She was also allowed on her flight home in the same top.

Taking to Twitter to express her anger at the way she was treated, O’Connor said, “They had four flight staff around me to get my luggage to take me off the plane.

Flying from Bham to Tenerife, Thomas Cook told me that they were going to remove me from the flight if I didn’t “cover up” as I was “causing offence” and was “inappropriate”. They had 4 flight staff around me to get my luggage to take me off the plane. pic.twitter.com/r28nvSYaoY

I stood up on the flight and asked if anybody was offended and nobody said a word.

“To top it off they allowed a man hurl abuse at me whilst the flight manager and four air staff stood and said nothing.

Left ‘shaking’ and ‘feeling bullied’

“A man then shouted ‘Shut up you pathetic woman. Put a f**king jacket on’ – the staff said nothing to him.”

According to O’Connor, the airline staff then did not leave her alone until she put on a jacket that her cousin lent her. After that, staff reportedly told everybody on the plane about what had happened, which O’Connor said humiliated her further.

She said that the ordeal left her ‘shaking’ and that she felt ‘bullied’.

The trainee accountant made a poll on Twitter asking people to vote on whether her clothing was appropriate, and 79 per cent of voters said that it was.

Thomas Cook contacted Emily the following week and told her they were investigating. She then spoke to the head of cabin crew who also told her she was looking into it.

‘We could have handled the situation better’

A spokesman for Thomas Cook said the Cabin Services Director had been in contact with Emily to clarify what had happened and to offer an apology.

They added, “We are sorry that we upset Ms O’Connor. It’s clear we could have handled the situation better.

“In common with most airlines we have an appropriate clothing policy. This applies equally to men and women of all ages without discrimination. Our crews have the difficult task of implementing that policy and don’t always get it right.”

Other Twitter users commented on the double standard of what is acceptable for men and women to wear – or not – in public.